Solid-state cooling by elastocaloric polymer with uniform chain-lengths

Although the elastocaloric effect was found in natural rubber as early as 160 years ago, commercial elastocaloric refrigeration based on polymer elastomers has stagnated owing to their deficient elastocaloric effects and large extension ratios. Herein, we demonstrate that polymer elastomers with uniform molecular chain-lengths exhibit enormous elastocaloric effects through reversible conformational changes. An adiabatic temperature change of −15.3 K and an isothermal entropy change of 145 J kg−1 K−1, obtained from poly(styrene-b-ethylene-co-butylene-b-styrene) near room temperature, exceed those of previously reported elastocaloric polymers. A rotary-motion cooling device is tailored to high-strains characteristics of rubbers, which effectively discharges the cooling energy of polymer elastomers. Our work provides a strategy for the enhancement of elastocaloric effects and could promote the commercialization of solid-state cooling devices based on polymer elastomers.

Simple and Low-Cost Footstep Energy-Recover Barocaloric Heating and Cooling Device

In this work, we design, build, and test one of the very first barocaloric devices. The here presented device can recover the energy generated by an individual’s footstep and transform it into barocaloric heating and/or cooling. Accordingly, we present an innovative device that can provide eco-friendly and gas-free heating/cooling. Moreover, we test the device by measuring a new barocaloric organic polymer that exhibits a large adiabatic temperature change of ~2.9 K under the application of 380 bar. These results pave the way towards novel and more advanced barocaloric technologies and provide a simple and low-cost device to explore new barocaloric materials.

Electrocaloric Effect of (K1−xNax)NbO3 Single Crystal

The electrocaloric effect of (K1−xNax)NbO3 single crystal is calculated based on Landau-Devonshire theory. The electrocaloric coefficient and adiabatic temperature change are calculated with the variation of temperature in rhombohedral, orthorhombic and tetragonal phase. A maximum of electrocaloric coefficient is obtained in each ferroelectric phase. Moreover, the tetragonal phase presents the larger electrocaloric coefficient and adiabatic temperature change than that rhombohedral and orthorhombic phase. However, the large electrocaloric effect is also obtained at room temperature with the adiabatic temperature change of 0.5 K, which tallies with the experimental findings.

Giant electrocaloric materials energy efficiency in highly ordered lead scandium tantalate

Electrocaloric materials are promising working bodies for caloric-based technologies, suggested as an efficient alternative to the vapor compression systems. However, their materials efficiency defined as the ratio of the exchangeable electrocaloric heat to the work needed to trigger this heat remains unknown. Here, we show by direct measurements of heat and electrical work that a highly ordered bulk lead scandium tantalate can exchange more than a hundred times more electrocaloric heat than the work needed to trigger it. Besides, our material exhibits a maximum adiabatic temperature change of 3.7 K at an electric field of 40 kV cm−1. These features are strong assets in favor of electrocaloric materials for future cooling devices.

Performance Assessment and Layer Fraction Optimization of Gd–Y Multilayer Regenerators for Near Room-Temperature Magnetic Cooling

An experimental and numerical assessment of multilayer active magnetic regenerators (AMR) composed of gadolinium (Gd) and gadolinium–yttrium (Gd–Y) alloys (Gd[Formula: see text]Y[Formula: see text], Gd[Formula: see text]Y[Formula: see text] and Gd[Formula: see text]Y[Formula: see text]) is presented. First, by calculating the adiabatic temperature change and the isothermal entropy change from the experimental data for the above materials, we show that, with reasonable accuracy for engineering design purposes, these properties can be determined by shifting the properties of pure Gd to the Curie temperature of the Gd–Y alloy — a common but not yet validated assumption in the design of Gd–Y AMRs with a low Y content. Next, we show that the optimal Gd–Y layer fraction in multilayer AMRs can be determined using the figure of merit known as the material refrigerant capacity (RC), which agrees well with the results from a more complex one-dimensional thermal non-equilibrium porous medium AMR model. Finally, the performance of the latter model is verified against the experimental cooling power data for two- and three-layer Gd–Y regenerators at temperature spans of 25, 30 and 35[Formula: see text]K.